Milford's Joey Russell kept them laughing

MILFORD -- After decades of cracking jokes, wearing clown makeup and helping others, comedian Joey Russell died Saturday at the age of 90 -- but you'd be mistaken to say he was old.

His favorite saying was, "You don't stop laughing when you get old. You get old when you stop laughing."

And according to relatives who fondly remembered Russell Sunday evening, he never stopped laughing or making others smile.

"Even in his fragile state in the hospital, his personality was that of a young person," said Jeff Russell, one of Russell's five children.

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Joey Russell suffered a stroke last year and, though he spent time in and out of the hospital, was able to still live at home with his wife, Josi Russell, 83. After Sunday's funeral services, friends and family gathered at his house and spent the time chuckling at memories of "Papa Joe," as he told others to call him, instead of dwelling on the loss.

"He would want this to be a party," Jeff Russell said.

The nightclub comic, who idolized and worked with famous comedians like Milton Berle and Norm Crosby, is best known in the New Haven area as Happy the Clown, a character appearing on Channel 8 in the 1950s. One of his character's gimmicks was banging together two pieces of wood called "happy sticks" while singing, "Happy sticks, happy sticks, all your troubles they will fix."

But long before Joey Russell was on TV, he met Josi Russell when he was around 22 and directing a show at a Massachusetts church. The two exchanged letters when he was in the service in Arkansas, Texas and Detroit, and then married in 1944.

The couple raised four sons and one daughter, giving Joey Russell plenty of material for his acts.

"I'm still in therapy because of it!" Jeff Russell quipped, claiming he was the butt of many jokes.

As Joey Russell sought out entertainment gigs after getting married, he met a professional clown, "Pop Lolly, the Lollipop King," prompting Josi Russell to make her husband a clown suit. Soon, Happy the Clown was born and seen on TV on Channel 8 before Joey Russell moved to Channel 30 and renamed his character Colonel Clown.

Jeff and Josi Russell smiled as they remembered how the comic prepared for clown performances.

"My dad would drive in the car and put his clown make-up on. And he would do it good. That's the scary part. Today, you'd get arrested for that," Jeff Russell said, laughing.

"And I'd always hoped he'd get arrested for doing it and he never did," Josi Russell chimed in.

Russell also traveled across the world to places like London, Israel and Jamaica to perform, though turned down many opportunities to stay close to his family, Josi Russell recalled Sunday.

"He could have been a huge star in his career, but he chose family over fame," Jeff Russell added.

But Joey Russell's strong Jewish faith also made him want to give back to others, his wife said. He established a local chapter of American Red Magen David for Israel, the Israeli equivalent of the American Red Cross, and raised money for around 20 ambulances, which typically cost around $65,000. He also led 51 tours to Israel.

"He was a people person," Josi Russell said. "He'll be remembered for making people happy."

He also was a partner of the New Haven Blades hockey team from 1954 to 1972 and on the board of directors for the Orange National Bank.

The couple's children say they still marvel at all their father did in his lifetime.

"If I can accomplish a fraction of what he did in his 90 years," son Robert Russell said, "then I'll be doing OK."

Memorial contributions can be sent to ARMDI by visiting www.afmda.org.